There’s a Friend…

There Is A Friend

Proverbs 18:24 says that a man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. I have been blessed with a group of ladies that I have been friends with for the last 36 years. We met in middle school when they all settled in the same town from various parts of the globe. One moved in just about next door. She lived in the garden apartment building on the other side of the path from where I grew up. The five of us became family over the years. We were there for all of life’s milestones: gains, losses, crushes, breakups, deaths, births, marriages, drama, and all manner of hilarity.

Chosen

A chosen family is an incredible blessing. We hit our preteens, teens, twenties, and on together. We were there for each other’s triumphs and failures- cheering and crying in solidarity through it all. But mostly, there was laughter: the inside jokes, the almost imperceptible sidelong glances or smiles. It didn’t matter if no one was in on the joke but us. We were all we needed. We had chosen each other for better or worse and had lived through it all.

News

I woke up yesterday morning to the news that one of us had passed on suddenly. We were not expecting it. We five were supposed to grow old together carrying on as sisters through old age.  Now we are only four. I have not felt this kind of loss since my mother died and I am broken. Her voice is still in my head; I can picture her mannerisms and hear the wild comments she would have made even as we struggle to get through this moment. She lived life on her own terms – always. My memories haven’t ceased because she is gone. She is still there making me laugh.

Family

I don’t have many friends, but the ones I do have are of the highest quality. This friend, who stuck closer than a brother was a blessing that few people ever get the chance to experience. And, while she was a bright light for so many people in so many places, she was so much more. She is my family, my sister, my friend. I’m grateful that in the hours before she died we were joking and laughing as usual. In this sea of sorrow, the good news is that my chosen family, the friends who stick closer than blood, are still here laughing and crying in solidarity. I thank God that He makes special mention of these kinds of friends in the Bible. I’m grateful that in His humanity, God recognized this specific kind of bond. When the Bible speaks about us being brothers and sisters in Christ, I imagine this is what it means.